Flashback: Dylan and Sheila's birth
In the beginning of several flashback stories that focus on significant events in the Harper family's history, Delphine Ridgeway, the Harper family's long-time head housekeeper, shares the story about the birth of Dylan Harper and his twin sister, Sheila Harper, with their children, Cathy, Ashley and Derek. Scene Dylan's townhouse, the present day. Derek Harper, his cousin, Cathy Watkins and his twin sister, Ashley, are busy helping get the brunch dishes put away. Mrs. Hollis, the family's cook, is pleased with their help, and yet, she is ready to get the evening meal ready. ANNOUNCER: The role of Delphine Ridgeway is now played by Noni Hazlehurst. CATHY: We got the dishes put away, Mrs. Hollis. MRS. HOLLIS: Thank you very much, I appreciate your help, kids, more than you can ever know. However, my dears, it's time for me to get dinner started. CATHY: OK, Mrs. Hollis. MRS. HOLLIS (smiling at Derek): The main reason is this, I'm making your favorite tonight, Derek. DEREK (thrilled, he knows what she is talking about): Tacos! MRS. HOLLIS (affectionately): That's right, baby. Now, I have to get started, but thank you for the help. CATHY: You're welcome, Mrs. Hollis. (The kids come out of the kitchen. They are happy.) ASHLEY: That was helpful for her. She does so much around here. CATHY: She needs a kitchen maid. ASHLEY: But there aren't many to be had. Still it was good that we helped her out. DEREK: Yeah, she is so wonderful to us. And she needed the help. (Enter Delphine Ridgeway, the family's long-time head housekeeper. Sheila and Dylan, who had known her since they were babies, had recently hired her to oversee the household staff. She is busy carrying some papers.) DELPHINE: Hi, kids. What are you doing? ASHLEY: Just helping Mrs. Hollis. DELPHINE: I am sure she appreciated that, darling. I do know we need to get her some help in the kitchen. But I have a bit of a break right now, and I want to share a story with you. DEREK: A story? Sounds good. CATHY: What's the story about, Mrs. Ridgeway? DELPHINE: When your mom and uncle Dylan were born. ASHLEY: I knew Dad and Aunt Sheila were close, and I know they are twins, but what was the story about? DEREK: Ash, it was when Dad and Aunt Sheila were born. CATHY: I can't wait to hear it. DELPHINE: All righty, then. Come in. ASHLEY: OK. (The kids and Delphine go into her new office, a former guest room which was remade into Delphine's office/sitting room. The kids sit on various chairs. Derek sits in the comfortable chair that Delphine uses to relax. Ashley sits next to Cathy.) DELPHINE: Well, kids. The story began at Harper General; now, you have to remember, this was back in Harpers Falls, well before you were born and living here. ASHLEY: This is going to be fun. DEREK: Yes, it will be. DELPHINE: Here's where it begins. It all began on a beautiful day here in New England...... (The scene flashes back to many years ago at Harper General Hospital, in the now borough of Brockton once called Harpers Falls. Michelle Harper was in the hospital. She is quite ready for labor, but she is laying in bed, waiting for her labor to be induced. She is quite anxious. Her parents are in there and are waiting with her.) RICHARD (her late father): Are you ready, my dear? MICHELLE: As ready as I will ever be, I guess. Where's Mother? RICHARD: She's coming. (Enter Violet, Richard's wife, and Michelle's late mother. Violet was a member of the Wheeler family, the second most important family in Harpers Falls.) VIOLET: I am here, sweetheart. MICHELLE: Mother, I have to admit, I am scared. RICHARD: We're right with you, darling. Mom and I will not leave your side for a second. MICHELLE: Where's Michael? I need my twin with me. (Enter Michael, who takes his sister's hand) MICHAEL: Don't worry about a thing, Shellie. I would not miss this for the world, sis. I wouldn't be anywhere else right now. MICHELLE (relieved): Thank you, Mike. I couldn't do this without my twin. (Enter: Angela Mercier. Michael and Michelle's long-time best friend. Angela's family was old friends with the Harpers and she had known Michael and Michelle since they were kids.) ANGELA: You will be fine, Shellie. I know you well enough for that. MICHELLE: Thank you, Ange. Enter Shelby Whitehead, a look of boredom on her lovely face. Shelby, a resident of the far eastern suburb of Hull, is a snobbish and very selfish troublemaker who wants Michael (who doesn't want her, to be frank). From her demeanor and mien, she strikes us as someone who doesn't like losing and is usually entitled to getting her own way, and she reacts wrathfully when she doesn't, which is often. She despises Angela, and also Michael and Michelle due to her jealousy of their bond as twins, but she wants to marry the unwilling Michael if only for a piece of the Harper billions. She glares at Angela, her arch-rival from their years at a girls school in Wellesley and their years at Radcliffe, and she shoots a nasty glare at Michael. SHELBY: Has she not had that damned labor induced yet?! I can't stand this! All this fuss over nothing! She is carrying the twins of a common fling! (she gives a prim toss of her head, becoming very pious) I swear, I have never seen so much disgusting immorality! ANGELA (she is sick of Shelby's hypocritical piety, and doesn't want her to upset Michelle): Shut up, Shelby. I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth! VIOLET (snobbishly): If you can't stop being rude, MISS Whitehead, then you can leave! SHELBY: I am not going to leave and you can't get rid of me! (Michelle moans, the drugs finally start to kick in and labor begins in earnest. As Shelby rudely yawns, earning a glare from Richard; Violet and Angela are immediately at her side.) ANGELA: What's wrong, honey? VIOLET: Are you all right, Shellie? MICHELLE: It's starting! (The Doctor wheels her into the delivery room, everyone else is left in the waiting room. Hours pass) ANGELA: I hope she is all right, Michael. MICHAEL: Me too, honey. I hope so too. SHELBY (piously, which only serves to aggravate everyone): Oh, please! All this because she had a fling....with someone in the Symphony Orchestra! VIOLET (showing her contempt for Shelby): Give it a rest, Miss Whitehead. Michelle wasn't even married. Neither was he! SHELBY: What am I doing here?! I have better places to be! MICHAEL (furiously) I am here because my sister is in that delivery room, giving birth to her twins! Why else do you think would I be here?! SHELBY: Well, I couldn't care less! MICHAEL: I'm not surprised. You may not care, but I DO! Keep your mouth shut! SHELBY: I don't have to be here. I have other things to do and places to be! ANGELA (furiously): Then you can LEAVE, Whitehead! Go to those better places you could be at, then! I don't give a damn about you and your ranting and raving! I am here because my best friend is giving birth, and if you don't like it, then you can get the hell out of here and leave us alone. SHELBY: Why, you......! (Just as the women are about to get into a fight, out comes the doctor.) DOCTOR: Claws in, ladies. Mike, your sister is waiting for you. She gave birth to twins. A boy and a girl. (Michael goes in. Angela follows him, as do Mr. and Mrs. Harper. Shelby plunks herself down on a seat and starts sulking.) MICHAEL (his eyes shining): Hello, little sister. MICHELLE (smiling): Hi, big brother. Say hello to your twin nephew and niece. (In Michelle's arms are her two children. One is a boy sleeping in his mother's arms; and the other a girl who is also asleep.) ANGELA (enraptured by the babies): Oh, Shellie, they are just beautiful. MICHAEL: The boy is quite handsome. MICHELLE (winking at her brother): Just like you are, Mike. He's the spitting image of you. ANGELA (she is proud of her best friend): Have you chosen names for them, Shellie? MICHELLE: Yes, I have, Ange. The boy is going to be named Dylan and the girl will be named Sheila. (Meanwhile, Shelby is infuriated. She is already scheming) SHELBY (back in the waiting room, thinking to herself, her face is absolutely cruel and mean): You may be happy now, but that won't last, I'll see to THAT! I am going to smash that happy tableau, and there is not a damned thing any of them can do to stop me! My daddy will help me. He always helps me, his loving daughter! The Harpers will fall and my daddy will help me out in demolishing you! You can be sure of that, bitch! You think Angela will get you, Harper? Not on your life. And you, Michelle? You will not best me! I am a Whitehead, and I will put a stop to you and your superiority, once and for all! When I take your son and ruin your relationship with him, I will get that damned brother of yours to marry me and Angela Mercier will be a memory! Cut to: The Harper mansion, a couple of days later. Mrs. Ridgeway, the family's head housekeeper, is supervising the set up of the nursery for the baby boy. Michelle had been checked out of the hospital and they were due to arrive at any time. Mitchell, the Harper family's long-time butler, had written the name of the boy in script and put it on a metal plaque on the mahogany oak door (When the house was made into Academy classrooms, the plaques were removed from the doors and were given to Dylan and Sheila, and they are on the bedrooms they have in the townhouse). He had found out that the boy was named Dylan Michael Harper. Dylan for an old friend of Michelle's from her days at Harper Academy, Dylan Martusek, and Michael from her twin brother. The girl was named Sheila Catherine Harper. She was named for Sheila Woodbury, a fellow member of the Symphony, and Catherine Blakeley, a debutante that she knew from her days at Radcliffe. Sheila's room was right next door to her twin brother's room and her name, Sheila Catherine, was also put on a plaque and placed on the mahogany oak door. One of the housemaids, a girl named Amelia Stansberry, would become Dylan's nanny (another housemaid named Marie Wilkes would be Sheila's nanny). DELPHINE: Is everything ready? MITCHELL: I talked with Mr. Harper, Mrs. Ridgeway. They are on their way home now. AMELIA (Dylan's new nanny): I see them coming now, the limo is in the circle drive. (Enter: Michael, Michelle and their parents. Richard is carrying baby Dylan and Violet is carrying baby Sheila.) MARIE: Here they are! MITCHELL: And look at the new arrivals. (he is absolutely delighted) Look at that handsome boy! DELPHINE: Isn't he a beautiful baby? AMELIA: Yes, he is. MITCHELL: He's quite a handsome little chap. Quite the spitting image of his father. MICHELLE: More like his uncle, Mitchell, but thanks! He's as handsome as his Uncle Mike, aren't you, my sweet l'il Dyl Pickle? (This was the first time that Dylan's affectionate nickname, Dyl Pickle, was ever used.) MITCHELL: Who was born first, Miss Michelle? MICHELLE: Dylan was. Two minutes later, along came Sheila. MITCHELL: So, Dylan is older. MICHELLE: Yep, By two minutes. MARIE: Wow, he is very much like Mr. Harper. MICHELLE: Yep, he's almost the spitting image of Mike when he was little. MICHAEL: Thank you, Shellie. (Michelle winks at her brother) DELPHINE: He's going to be a joy to take care of. MITCHELL: I can't wait. AMELIA: Let's get the little prince into his bed. (She gently puts the baby into his crib, where he drops right off to sleep. Everyone focuses on Sheila, as Amelia gets the newborn Dylan tucked into his bed.) MARIE: Sheila is quite beautiful. MICHELLE: She gained my looks, Marie. MITCHELL: Already the two are best friends, Miss Michelle? MICHELLE: Yes, they are. MARIE: Shall I get Miss Sheila in her crib, Ma'am? MICHELLE: Yes, Marie. (Marie takes baby Sheila and puts her in her nursery.) Cut To: A few hours later that same day. Mrs. Ridgeway is working outside of the nurseries. She is busy cleaning one of the nearby guest rooms. This room would become a changing station which would be used for storing the diapers and other things that Marie and Amelia would use for the children. The new nannies would also change the babies in this room. Her eyes are widened in shock when she sees Shelby Whitehead walking down the corridor, as bold as brass. DELPHINE (annoyed, she never liked Shelby): What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be up here without permission of the family. SHELBY: Shut up! I have every right to be here! DELPHINE (angrily): No, you do not! I am not going to tell you again! Get away from that nursery. Master Dylan is asleep. SHELBY: What of it?! DELPHINE: I will call security! SHELBY: Oh no, you won't! I am taking the boy! You cannot stop me! DELPHINE (determinedly): No, you will not! Someone! Call Security! Mitchell! Get security! Shelby Whitehead is trying to take baby Dylan! (Bold as brass, Shelby walks in and grabs the child! She walks down the hall, smugly. Richard, coming out of the den and hearing Delphine's screams, sees Shelby walking off with his grandson.) RICHARD: Hold it! What are you doing, Miss Whitehead?! (Out runs Amelia) AMELIA: Stop her, sir! She's grabbed Dylan! (Dylan, awakened by the confusion, starts to cry.) RICHARD: Stop right there, Shelby Whitehead! Give me back my grandson! SHELBY: No! Why should I? RICHARD: Because if you don't, I will contact your parents and tell them what you are doing! SHELBY: My daddy will allow me to do ANYTHING! RICHARD: I don't think so, missy! Give me my grandson! SHELBY (taunting him): No! And who the hell do you think YOU are?! RICHARD: I am the master of this house, THAT'S who! You will pay for this impertinence, young lady. SHELBY: You think so? (lying) My daddy can buy and sell you a million times over! RICHARD: You think so, you little guttersnipe?! You don't know what you are saying and you know even LESS who you are dealing with! In fact, I AM the one who could buy and sell your family a million times over....a BILLION times over! SHELBY: You damned old fool! Your age alone keeps me from beating you senseless! RICHARD: Don't you threaten me! Get out of here! My son will never want to lay eyes on you again for this disrespect! (Enter Michelle, who had just come home from a symphony rehearsal, who is furious!) MICHELLE (in a voice of iron): Put my son down, Shelby Whitehead! And I DO mean, right NOW! SHELBY: How about I drop him on his head?! (Shelby prepares to drop the child, laughing) MICHELLE: You try that, you will be very sorry! DELPHINE: Drop that child, lady, and I will have you arrested for abuse! (Shelby relents, but with a sick look on her face) SHELBY: Fine, it would have been fun to see if he was fragile! (She laughs at her sick joke, nobody else does) RICHARD: Give that baby to my daughter! (Shelby reluctantly gives him to Michelle who calms her crying son,) MICHELLE: It's all right, baby. Mommy isn't going to let you be hurt. Amelia, be a dear and put him in his crib, please, I will be in to see him in a few minutes. And Mrs. Ridgeway, can you watch him for a while? DELPHINE: Yes, I will, Miss Michelle. I would be glad to. (she takes the baby in her arms) Don't cry, my darling. Your mommy will be in to see you in a few minutes. (Enter Michael. He is angered with Shelby.) MICHAEL: What is going on here? MICHELLE (near tears): Shelby tried to walk off with Dylan! That society-licking bitch tried to walk off with my son! Then she was going to DROP him to the ground! MICHAEL: Oh, she did, did she? (He shoots a cold glare at Shelby) MICHELLE: Yes, she did! MICHAEL: Well don't worry, sis. I will deal with her! SHELBY: You are crazy! You have no proof! (Richard burns in anger at this blatant lie. He caught her red-handed, and she knows it) RICHARD: That is a LIE! AMELIA (returning from the nursery, where she and Mrs. Ridgeway got Dylan back to sleep): And you did so in the presence of several witnesses! (Michael is stunned) MICHAEL: So, you were trying to kidnap my nephew?! What were you doing up here? You had no right to be up here! SHELBY: Who cares! MICHAEL: I knew you were lying! AMELIA: And we will swear to it, and we'll all be glad to see the end of her. (Michael has had enough of Shelby. He turns to his dad) MICHAEL: Dad, may we use your study? RICHARD: Sure, son. MICHELLE: We want words with you, "Miss Shelby"! (They go into the study) MICHAEL (exploding): What the HELL do you think you were trying to pull?! SHELBY: What do you think I was trying to pull, Michael Harper? I want that child! I hate that Michelle can give birth, from a FLING, and I cannot have a baby at all! MICHAEL: But to try and take my nephew from my sister? That is KIDNAPPING! We could have you charged with trying to kidnap Dylan! SHELBY (cooing, but there is an unmistakable tinge of ominousness in her voice, like a veiled threat): But you WON'T do that to me, WILL YOU? (she bats her eyes) Not to your sweet li'l Shelby. MICHAEL (not impressed): Turn off the charm, Shirley Temple! It's not gonna work this time! SHELBY: Why would you charge me with that? MICHELLE: You tried to kidnap MY son! SHELBY (again piously): Such an immoral life you live! MICHAEL: Turn off the piousness, lady! It's as fake as you are! I will NOT allow you to speak ill of my sister! And lest you forget! My sister is NOT married! Neither was he! So, I would not speak about immorality, when you tried to kidnap my nephew! Nor would you speak about immorality, knowing what I do about you! So, I would not be speaking about morality or lack thereof! SHELBY: So what?! MICHAEL: I cannot believe that you are even so remorseless! You tried to kidnap my sister's son, and you are proud of what you did! I have never been more disgusted with you than I am now, Shelby. I don't EVER want to see you again! I am breaking off with you! We're through, Shelby Whitehead! I am going to call Angela Mercier, and I am going to go with her for good! (Shelby is horrified. She cannot believe that Michael would throw her over.) SHELBY: You can't mean this! MICHAEL: I mean it! We're finished! Get out of here and leave! SHELBY: Mike, can't you see reason? MICHAEL: NO! What reason?! You tried to take my sister's son! How DARE you?! What reason is there to be seen?! You can't be trusted! SHELBY: I can't have a child! And your saintly sister has TWINS! This is NOT fair! That boy should be MINE! MICHELLE: Get out of here, Shelby Whitehead, before I slaughter you! SHELBY: Oh, really? I don't think so! MICHAEL: GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, SHELBY! I NEVER WANT TO SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN! MICHELLE (getting an idea): Wait a minute. I have an idea. Michael, get Dylan. MICHAEL: Why? MICHELLE: It's simple! I want you to raise him. MICHAEL: Shellie, but why? MICHELLE: I want to make peace in the family. And you need to help out with the children. MICHAEL: But what about Sheila? They are inseparable! MICHELLE: And they still will be. They always will be. Everyone in the family, immediate as well as extended, will know that they are siblings, but everyone else in the world will think they are cousins. It will help for a while. SHELBY: And what about me? MICHAEL: What about you? SHELBY: I am still your girlfriend! MICHAEL: No, you're not! Not anymore! I just broke up with you! SHELBY: But MIKE! MICHAEL: Don't "but Mike" me, you wicked woman! You heard me! I want you OUT of here! SHELBY: But.....but...! If you'd only listen to me! MICHELLE (her voice dripping poison): No, Shelby, YOU listen to me! I don't trust you, bitch! I have never trusted you from the first day you darkened our doorstep. I hate you! I don't trust you one little bit! To me, you are an absolute evil bitch! But I am not going to take any garbage out of you! I am letting my brother raise Dylan, and you can just keep your mitts off of my child! SHELBY: I don't care! Michael is MINE! And you will never have him! MICHELLE: You bitch! You can't destroy my bond with my twin! And besides, you don't own him! SHELBY: Just you wait, woman! I can do it! And I WILL! I own him! I always win! MICHAEL: Get out of here, Shelby, right NOW! SHELBY: Just you wait! I will get even! (Shelby runs out of the house.) MICHELLE: I will keep an eye on him from a distance, Mike. I want to keep an eye on Dylan. Mainly because I don't trust her. MICHAEL: You will, sis. I promise, and only the family, immediate and extended, will know that Dylan and Sheila are twins. They will know the truth when they get older. MICHELLE: But what about Shelby? MICHAEL: Don't worry, Shellie. I will see to it that she will keep her hands off him. And if she doesn't, then there will be hell to pay! The first mistake she makes, she will be ejected! MICHELLE: Twin sign? MICHAEL (grinning): Twin sign. (The twins link fingers as they did when they were little. They laugh, and then they give one another a hug) Cut to: The Whitehead residence in Hull later that evening. The family is appalled at what Shelby tried to do! GEORGE: What did you do?! Why would you even TRY to do that?! LYNNE: You are so incorrigible, Shelby! You know if you tried that, the Harpers will make any charges stick! SHELBY: So what?! MAUREEN (Shelby's younger sister): You are a monster! Trying to kidnap a baby! SHELBY: Well, it worked! I got Michael for myself and Angela is nothing more than a bad memory! (She laughs in abject cruelty. Maureen is absolutely appalled.) MAUREEN: You're monstrous! You have absolutely no shame! SHELBY: It worked, didn't it? It got me what I wanted. Don't you think so, Daddy? GEORGE: I don't approve of your behavior! (Shelby is stunned. She thought her daddy would have applauded her viciousness.) SHELBY: But, Daddy! LYNNE: When Violet called me this evening, I didn't know what to think! But when Michael called me afterwards and then he told me the whole story, I was absolutely APPALLED! Shelby, you are grounded for a month! SHELBY: How DARE you! GEORGE: You are to only go to school. Nowhere else, and especially NOT to the Harper Mansion! SHELBY: You can't stand in the way of true love! Neither one of you! MAUREEN: No, it's not true love, Shelby! What you are really doing is lusting after the Harper billions! SHELBY: Oh, shut up! (Shelby slams the door to her room as hard as she could! She flings herself on the bed and sobs at this injustice!) Cut To: Fade back into the present. Delphine is looking at the kids. DEREK: Wow! Grandma must have been really angry at her. DELPHINE: She certainly was, Derek. So were your great grandparents. Your granny and Shelby hated one another for many years more. I didn't like her either, even when she was married into the family. CATHY: What happened to Uncle Michael and Shelby? DELPHINE: They got married. (The three kids are astonished) DEREK: After all she did to them, they STILL got married? DELPHINE: Yes, they did. Why, I don't know. From what I could glean, Shelby roped him into it. But they had another child, your Aunt Rose, or so it was thought. Later on it was revealed that Michael wasn't her father either, so yet another lie on her part. Michael annulled the marriage eventually. Dylan was raised by Michael, mostly, despite the marriage being anulled. Angela doted on him as well; but Shelby was so callous towards him unless it suited her own ends! You know it was Shelby who manipulated Dylan to stay here to go to school at Harper Academy. CATHY: Mom told me about that. I can't believe how evil she was. What a nasty woman it was. DEREK: But Grandma watched out for Dad when he was growing up. DELPHINE: That is true. Your grandma watched out for your dad really well. I never liked Shelby. Nobody really did. Not the family, defintely not the staff. CATHY: I am glad we never met her. DEREK: Me too! ASHLEY (sadly): Wow, Dad had all that to deal with. CATHY (comforting her cousin): So did Mom, to be sure. She and Uncle Dylan couldn't say that they were twins to the outside world. Only the whole family knew, and nobody else did. DELPHINE: That's right, honey. The family knew. And so did I. (Enter Dylan and Sheila. They are dressed to the nines and they look gorgeous.) DYLAN: Hi, kids! Hi, Mrs. Ridgeway. SHEILA: How are you? DELPHINE: Afternoon, sir, Madame. My, you all look very beautiful for a late Monday afternoon. What are you all doing? SHEILA: We have an early dinner meeting at L'Espalier. Some stockholders and us have an informal meeting. Adam and Mom will be joining us. DELPHINE: Very good, so you won't be here for dinner? SHEILA: Nope. I talked with Mrs. Hollis. Dinner will be at seven. Marilyn has her book club tonight. Shawn and Audra are having dinner at the Atchley Mansion; and everyone else is taking care of business. It's just the kids tonight, ok? DELPHINE: Very good. (Derek goes and impulsively hugs his dad and his aunt.) SHEILA: What was that for, sweetheart? DEREK: You deserved it, Aunt Sheila. For you two being you. SHEILA: Thank you, darling. DYLAN: We'll be back at Nine. And when we get back, we can pick you all up and go for a DQ run, how about that? (The kids are thrilled.) CATHY: Thanks, Uncle Dylan. DEREK: Yeah, thanks, Dad. DYLAN: You're welcome, son. We'll see you all later. (Dylan and Sheila wave. The kids go to their rooms to begin their homework. Delphine smiles as she goes back to her office. She is glad to be back in the family's lives. This is the family that she had served for so many years, and she still loves as much as ever. And she is ESPECIALLY glad that Shelby, her hated enemy, is dead. The scene fades) Category:Episodes featuring Dylan and Sheila Category:Episodes Category:Hall of Fame Episodes Category:Flashback episodes of Harper History